Review of 2017

The annual summary of stuff wot I have blogged about…

(see also 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016 )

This blog originally included a lot more about what I did or thought, now it is mainly ‘reviews’ of books read and only really so that I can check if I have already read something.  Enjoy…

Movies watched at Cinema (well this year was two trips to the little cinema at Crieff Hydro, but every little counts)

• March: Dr Strange
• March: Jack Reacher: Never Go Back

Events (anything significant to remember)

• 12 Nov: Alice Cooper SSE Hydro

Cycling

• 2017 totals:
  331 rides
  169 days active
  153 hours
  1749 miles
  63635 ft gain
• 26th March 2017: Wattbike No Excuses Falkirk Sportive
  : 45 miles : Moving 3h:58 : Total 5h:26
  : Elevation 2416 ft : Av Speed: 11.4 mph : Max Speed: 34.4 mph
• 29th April 2017: Tearfund Drumlanrig Challenge
  : 57 miles : Moving 4h:42 : Total 5h:21
  : Elevation: 3040 ft : Av Speed: 12.2 mph : Max Speed: 30 mph
• 10th Sept 2017: Pedal for Scotland
  : 45 miles : Moving 3h:34 : Total 4h: 03
  : Elevation 2142ft : Av Speed: 12.3mph : Max Speed: 33 mph

BOOKS read this year….

• Jan: Robert Crais “The Sentry”
• Jan: Robert Crais “Taken”
• Feb: Robert Crais “Suspect”
• Feb: Robert Crais “The Promise”
• March: Nelson DeMille “Plumb Island”
• March: Lee Child “Make Me”
• March: David Millar “Racing Through the Dark: The Fall and Rise of David Millar”
• April: Chris Froome “The Climb: The Autobiography”
• May: Nelson DeMille “The Lion’s Game”
• May: Paul Stanley “Face the Music”
• June: Nelson DeMille “Night Fall”
• July: Nelson DeMille “Wild Fire”
• Aug: Nelson DeMille “The Lion”
• Aug: Nelson DeMille “The Panther”
• Aug: Nelson DeMille “Radiant Angel”
• Aug: Michael Connelly “The Wrong Side of Goodbye”
• Aug: James Lee Burke “Lay Down My Sword and Shield”
• Aug: Lawrence Block “Sins of the Father”
• Sep: Lawrence Block “In the Midst of Death” (Matthew Scudder 2)
• Sep: Lawrence Block “Time to Murder and Create” (Matthew Scudder 3)
• Sep: Lawrence Block “A Stab in the Dark” (Matthew Scudder 4)
• Dec: Lawrence Block “Eight Million Ways to Die” (Matthew Scudder 5)
• Dec: Lawrence Block “When the Sacred Ginmill Closes” (Matthew Scudder 6)
• Dec: Michael Connelly “Two Kinds Of Truth”
• Dec: Leslie Charteris “Enter The Saint”

Holidays…

• Feb: Dunoon (50th long weekend)
• March: Crieff Hydro
• June: Craig Tara caravan weekend
• (June: Lewis went camping with Granny and Grandpa)
• July: Lake District
• July: Isle of Lewis
• Sept: Tayview Lodges with Reddicks
• Oct: Sa Coma, Mallorca (First foreign family holiday)

Other Highlights:

• Jan: started YouTube channel for Gaelic Nursery Books
• Feb: new bike – Specialised Diverge A1
• Turned 50!
• April: Lewis 4
• April: Resigned from Vestry and left St Silas after 25 years
• June: New Dishwasher
• Aug: New Washing Machine
• Oct: Sa Coma, Mallorca First foreign family holiday
• Nov: Rachel 1
• Nov: Rachel Dedicated (and we joined) APBC
• Dec: Joined Parent Council at SGG

Youtube uploads:

• April: Easter Egg Hunt
• Sept: Jurassic Kingdom
• Dec: Alice Cooper Hydro Nov 2017
• ..but also started a new channel for Gaelic Nursery Books

Running Totals:

• 2009 – 23 books – 6 Movies – 4 gigs/events
• 2010 – 33 books – 13 Movies – 10 gigs/events – 6 meals – 4 holidays
• 2011 – 18 books – 2 Movies – 3 gigs/events – 1 meals – 3 holidays
• 2012 – 16 books – 7 Movies – 3 gigs/events – 3 meals – 4 holidays
• 2013 – 8 books – 2 Movies – 0 gigs/events – 1 meals – 2 holidays – 1 Son
• 2014 – 1 books – 3 Movies – 2 gigs/events – 4 holidays
• 2015 – 18 books – 2 Movies – 2 gigs/events – 3 holidays – 6 videos
• 2016 – 34 books – 2 Movies – 1 events – 4 holidays – 4 videos – 1416 miles cycled – 1 daughter
• 2017 – 25 books – 2 Movies – 1 event – 7 holidays – 3 videos – 1749 miles cycled

Catch up (part 1)

No excuses, I’ve simply not got around to blogging much but there might just be time to catchup before the end of the year….

In July  (9th – 16th)  we took young Lewis to the Isle of Lewis…

	Lewis’s first filght
	Lewis Meets a Dog – Ben
	Lewis visits one of the many beaches on Lewis.

Also, in July – partly due to the great weather and partly because my Aunt started nagging me about cholesterol and heart disease – I started Cycling to work.  At first only  three days a week but it didn’t take long to get up to 5 days. It did get hard when the clocks change and it got colder but still going and really enjoying it.

September (8th) we Dedicated Lewis to God during a service at St Silas, asking Ali and Alison (we didn’t deliberately choose them because they had similar names)…

	Lewis’s dedication
	family
	cake.

November 3rd  Lewis’s first fancy dress (Halloween) party..

Also in November Danar and I celebrated a significant decimal anniversary – 1000 days married!  We went to one of our favourite restaurants, the wonderful Bibi’s Cantina.

more to come…

Review of 2011

That time of year again to have a look over what I’ve blogged about and review what the year has been like ( see 2010, and 2009)

GIGS, EVENTS & THEATER…

• May: Milton Jones
• May: Adam Ant & The Good, The Mad and The Lovely Posse
• Nov: The Good Rum Tasting

MOVIES watched at the cinema…

• June: Mammuth
• July: harry potter and the deathly hallows part 2

RESTAURANTS, blogged about…

• Jan: Jamie’s Italian

BOOKS read this year….

• Jan: Danny Wallace “Awkward Situations for Men”
• Jan: Jack Higgins “Pay the Devil”
• Jan: Nicky & Sila Lee “The Marriage Book”
• Feb: Jack Higgins “The Keys of Hell”
• March: Stuart Woods “Blood Orchid”
• March: Beth Williamson “Christian Art: A Very Short Introduction”
• March: Stuart Woods “Iron Orchid”
• March: Stuart Woods “Hot Mahogany”
• April: Stuart Woods “Hothouse Orchid”
• May: Jonathan Kellerman “The Conspiracy Club”
• May: Shane Hipps “Flickering Pixels”
• Aug: Lawrence Block “Time to Murder and Create”
• Sep: David Baldacci “Absolute Power”
• Oct: David Baldacci “Last Man Standing”
• Oct: Lee Child “The Affair”
• Oct: Lee Child “One Shot”
• Nov: Ava McCarthy “The Insider”
• Nov: David Baldacci “The Simple Truth”

Holidays…

Feb: honeymoon in Barbados

July: we did a wee tour of England, visiting relatives in Coventry then having a few days in Yorkshire and the Lakes.

August:  CLANkidz not always seen as a holiday, but still it isn’t ‘work’ and it is in St Andrews so I think it counts

Other Highlights:

Feb: I got Married, D’ moved into my small flat and we began our married life of bliss.  The reality is that it is difficult to find a balance in everything when married, it hasn’t been easy but it has been a lot of fun.
Also, in Feb, as mentioned we went to Barbados and I found a new interest – Rum!
Oct: Put my flat in Woodlands on the market and it sold within three weeks
Nov: After looking at a lot of places we bought a house in Scotstoun
Dec: Moved into the new house, filled it up with clutter immediately, then had Christmas parties.  What a good month!

Review of 2010

Time to sum up what I’ve been doing (or at least blogging about) this year…

It seems like a fairly busy year and I suppose the main reason for that is that this year D’ and I started dating and on the 23 July we got engaged while in St Andrews.  We have set a date for the wedding and since then it sometimes feels like all we are doing or talking about are wedding plans.  However, there have been a few other things going on and here is the summary:

GIGS, EVENTS & THEATER…

• Jan: Celtic Connections Festival Club
• Feb: Celtic Connections: Peatbog Faeries
• Feb: Mark Kermode talk and book signing at GFT
• Feb: Citizens Theater “Backbeat”
• May: KISS as the SECC
• Jun: Snow Patrol in Bellahouston Park
• Jun: Paul McCartney in Hampden Park
• Jul: The Tron Theater “Valhalla”
• Sep: The Academy “Barenaked Ladies”
• Oct: Royal Concert Hall, RSNO “Nice ‘n’ Easy”

MOVIES watched at the cinema…

• Jan: A Serious Man
• Jan: Sweet Smell of Success
• Feb: Avatar (3D at the IMax)
• Mar: Micmacs
• Apr: Exit Through The Gift Shop
• Apr: Blind Side
• Jun: The Brothers Bloom
• Sep: The Girl Who Played with Fire
• Nov: The Social Network
• Nov: RED
• Nov: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1
• Dec: The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest
• Dec: Monsters

RESTAURANTS, blogged about…

• Feb: The Lansdowne Bar and Kitchen
• Apr: Mzouda
• May: Mitchell’s Restaurant Carmunnock
• Jun: Hillhead Bookclub
• Oct: Dragon-i
• Nov: No. 16

BOOKS read this year….

• Jan: Terry Pratchett “Monstrous Regiment”
• Jan: Don’t Panic: Douglas Adams & The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy
• Jan: Stuart Woods “Dirty Work”
• Jan: Stuart MacBride “Dying Light”
• Feb: Simon Kernick “A Good Day To Die”
• Feb: Simon Varwell “Up the Creek Without a Mullet”
• Feb: Stuart Woods “Reckless Abandon”
• Mar: Mark Kermode “It’s Only a Movie: Reel Life Adventures of a Film Obsessive”
• Mar: Stuart MacBride “Cold Granite”
• Mar: Stuart Woods “Dark Harbor”
• Mar: Stuart Woods “Fresh Disasters”
• Apr: Stuart MacBride “Broken Skin”
• Apr: John Bevere “Under Cover”
• Apr: Alex Gray “Never Somewhere Else”
• May: Stieg Larsson “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo”
• Jun: Stieg Larsson “The Girl who Played with Fire”
• Jun: Stieg Larsson “The Girl who Kicked the Hornets’ Nest”
• Jul: Alex Gray “A Small Weeping”
• Jul: Lee Child “61 Hours”
• Aug: Harlan Coben “Hold Tight”
• Aug: Stuart MacBride “Flesh House”
• Aug: Stuart MacBride “Blind Eye”
• Sep: Wu Cheng En “Monkey”
• Sep: Christopher Priest “The Separation”
• Oct: Lee Child “Worth Dying For”
• Oct: Jeff Lindsay “Darkly Dreaming Dexter”
• Nov: Stuart Woods “Kisser”
• Nov: Stuart Woods “Two Dollar Bill”
• Nov: Stuart Woods “Orchid Beach”
• Dec: Raymond Chandler “Playback”
• Dec: Terry Pratchett “Johnny and the Dead”
• Dec: JK Rowling “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows”
• Dec: Stuart Woods “Orchid Blues”

Holidays (a new and exciting section to my blog as I haven’t done much in the way of ‘breaks’ but hope to in the future)…

Jan: London: part work trip to a conference but three days to myself for sight-seeing, concerts and shows. — Day1 – Day 2a – Day2b – Day3 – Day4 – Day5 – Day6 — highlights included: Victoria and Albert Museum, National Theater gig – Marcia Mello, British Film Institute, Tate Modern,  St Bride’s Church,  British Museum,  Trafalgar Square, The National Gallery, St Martin-in-the-Fields (which isn’t), Broadcasting House, recording of Newsjack in the Radio Theater, Hyde Park, Albert Memorial, the Monmouth Coffee Company, Tower Bridge,

May: York: a quick weekend break in the city of York was great.  I didn’t blog as much as in London (when I was on my own and deliberately trying to do everything I could in as short a time as possible).  This trip was much more relaxed and great fun.Happy New Year!

October: Isle of Lewis: another very quick weekend break in Lewis to visit family and to introduce my fiancee to them and to this beautiful island.  We had great weather for the time of year and took lots of photos.

Nov: Campbeltown: again, just a quick one-night stop over in (well just outside) Campbeltown to visit Grant Logan to choose wedding rings.

44454

I was driving along when I noticed that the mileage was 44454, which meant that 10 miles before I had missed the mileage being 44444.  Oh well :-/

Time Flies… (+ve or -ve)

So many things happening that I only have time for a quick +ve  or -ve update…

• +ve visited my sister and family in Dunoon.
• -ve had to pass through Gourock :-(
• +ve went for a nice drive in the country
• -ve my car is falling apart
• +ve I get to go car-shopping soon
• -ve I had a large ‘fry-up’ last night
• +ve it included (in fact was caused by having) Charles Macleod’s Stornoway Black Pudding
• +ve helped friend with video project that has worked out really well
• +ve not stressed at all about Deeper this weekend
• -ve probably forgotten something for Deeper this weekend
• +ve attended an excellent reading and book signing by Simon Varwell of his book “Up the Creek Without a Mullet”
• -ve I’ve already read it
• +ve finally got hold of a CD of Seasick Steve (listening to it now – excellent!!!)
• -ve sister’s been not well  :-(
• +ve been in touch with a couple of other folk who do Worship VJing
• -ve going to the dentist this week for the first time in many many years :-<
• +ve was sunny today and I spent some time in a park sketching, then doing some guerrilla filming on Byres Rd.
• +ve stuff I can’t blog about ;-)

OK, so to tally up…   11 +ve  /  7 -ve   …so all is well and good with the world.  So here is a photo of Jake and I relaxing during the morning service last week (sorry about the messy background, what can you do)!

2010

I thought of doing some resolutions but really what is the point?  By the 3rd I had already broken ‘no chocolate’, ‘no fried food’, ‘exercise every day’, and a few other default type resolutions so I’ve been thinking more about things I would like to aim for and work towards this year to be a thought now and something I can look back on at the end of the year and either laugh at myself or tick as achieved!

I would like to go to more movies! I always aim to go to see more films on the big screen but either I don’t organize to go with anyone or want to go but can’t be bothered with the idiots who you have to put up with, etc.  So now, if possible, I will only go to the Grosvenor or GFT to avoid the prats.  I was surprised to total up last year and see that I’ve only seen 6 movies at the cinema, so it should be easy to improve on. Also, I’ve been given a GFT membership which knocks £1 off admission and is just enough incentive to get me back into the habit.

Similarly, I would like to see more live music.  Live gigs are fantastic (but again you have to suffer the idiots who think that they will somehow get more out of the music if plastered)!  I already have tickets for a concert in May and plan to go to at least two gigs in Celtic Connections… but if anyone has suggestions for concerts they are looking for someone to go to then let me know.

Be able to play Bass with some confidence.  I started to learn electric bass guitar earlier this year and really haven’t put enough effort into it.  I have never been able to play any musical instrument or to read music or know anything about music theory and I don’t intend or aim to be a breath-taking musician.  However, even the little that I have learned has helped my VJing stuff simply by adding more attention to what is happening musically and not just following the words/tune.  So I would like to know more, practice more and be able to at least be a back up player for a church band by the end of the year.

VJing – I do enjoy VJing and Visualist work (which I define more widely as having an overall visual design for an event than VJing which is more about mixing videos during an event).  The main regular event for this is the Deeper services at St Silas, but I have done a couple of under-18 club nights this year, and worship events out with St Silas.  My aim for this year is to get better at the practicalities involved in this – we struggle a lot with the current software so may well change it, and also need to spend a lot more money on equipment so I need to find more paid-for gigs to build up a budget.  Lastly on this topic to post more on the Christian Visualist blog and try to make more contacts with the others I know doing the same sort of thing worldwide.

Use Time better – I need to make more effort to meet up with and keep touch with friends and family, by the end of the year I should really have gone to my sisters and even better if I manage to visit all the MacLeod clan in Lewis.  A proper holiday is always in the back of my mind but I really don’t think I will change enough about myself to make that happen.

Church & Faith – I have nothing to say about that for now, so perhaps the aim should be to have something more to say about it.

Review of 2009

Among other things blogged about this year, like being breathalyzed for the first time, decorating my bathroom, getting an app-phone (here, here & here), using dropbox, a guest-blog, etc.   I have…

Gone to see this lot in concert…

• The Ting Tings, at the Academy 25 Feb 2009
• The Blue Man Group, at the Clyde Auditorium, 22 May 2009
• U2 at Hampden August
• Massive Attack Glasgow Academy 29 Sep 2009

Gone to these Movies…

• Star Trek
• Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
• Inglourious Basterds
• the men who stare at goats
• Harry Brown
• Sherlock Holmes

Watched these boxed sets…

• Firefly & Serenity
• The Wire
• The West Wing – also here & here & here & here

and, read these books….

• Kate Summerscale “The suspicions of Mr Whicher or The Murder at Road Hill House”
• Terry Pratchett “Mort”
• Cory Doctorow “Little Brother”
• Terry Pratchett “Reaper Man”
• Jools Holland “Barefaced lies & Boogie-Woogie Boasts”
• Terry Pratchett “Soul Music”
• William P Young “The Shack”
• Lee Child “Gone Tomorrow”
• Jesse Kellerman, “The Brutal Art”
• Christopher Moore, “Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ’s Childhood Pal”
• Terry Pratchett “Thief of Time”
• Jon Ronson “Men Who Stare at Goats”
• Christopher Moore “The Stupidest Angel”
• Terry Pratchett “The Truth”
• Robert Kroese “Mercury Falls”
• Stuart Woods “Dead in the Water”
• Stuart Woods “Swimming to Catalina”
• Stuart Woods “Dirt”
• Stuart Woods “Worst Fears Realized”
• Stuart Woods “LA Dead”
• Douglas Coupland “JPod”
• Stuart Woods “Cold Paradise”
• Stuart Woods “The Short Forever”

Happy New Year!

+ve or -ve

A couple of years ago I tried doing a blog once a week reflecting on good and bad things that happened that week, I’m going to try it again for a while.  The main difficulty with this sort of blog is the number of things that you just can’t name, like ‘friend called’ I’m not going to mention who but it might be something that really cheered my up (OK I’m assuming that a friend calling would appear in the +ve category).  Anyway, as I always try to remember the purpose of this blog is as a memo to myself and if others happen to read it and find it interesting because you know me or something I’ve written is of use then great, but be warned if you read the +ve/-ve posts they may be over cryptic and certainly I can’t see how interesting they could be:.

 

• +ve  listened to the entire Queen back catalog (apart from compilations and live stuff) at work this week via on Spotify!
• +ve  finishing another Pratchett novel: The Truth
• -ve   Halloween: got no sleep at all because of the number of party goers shouting in the street outside till well after 4am by which time I generally can’t get to sleep
• -ve   passed on some real hassle of a job to deal with which was probably avoidable
• -ve  had a head cold most of the week
• +ve  worked from home for two days to avoid traipsing into work with a cold (and got a few ‘stuck’ projects moving)
• +ve  had a guest blog published on musicademy
• +ve  phone call from friend
• +ve  started watching ‘Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip‘ (why the long name?)
• +ve  de-cluttering and decorating means chucking lots of stuff out and feels good
• +ve  caught up with one of my oldest friends and had a fantastic burger from Ketchup
• -ve   haven’t practiced bass for over a week!!
• -ve  Carol Service plans not where they should be by now, need a lot more work!
• +ve  I’ve built a secret passageway in my living room and it makes me smile every time I use it
• +ve  out with friends on Friday night, to Ketchup again and Grosvneor (first night out like this for months!)
• +ve  good to see friends visiting from Manchester
• -ve  didn’t get to Biblocafe enough this weekend
• +ve  finished decorating living room
• -ve  finished watching ‘Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip‘ and there are no more seasons :-(
• -ve LOTS of tech problems at church this morning, again!
• +ve took Sunday evening off church (again)

Too hot to blog…

No it’s not.

We’ve had a few days of fantastic weather which and it is incredible how quickly we can get used to it. Normally in Scotland it is difficult to go very far from home/office/car without carrying a jacket, rain coat or umbrella ‘just in case’.  So I surprised myself by going all the way to Edinburgh this week with no extra clothes for wind, rain or hail.

Anyway, talking to a friend at the weekend she said that she preferred cold weather to hot becuase “if you are too cold you can generally do something about it, put on a jumper, turn up the heating – but if it is too hot there isn’t much you can do”  I have always had the other opinion that it is better to be too hot.  Now, I agree with what my friend said but I just don’t think I’ve ever been too-hot.

This week has indeed challenged this but in general I think that as a Scotsman living in Glasgow where frequently we experience all four seasons in one short afternoon and when each year we experience the strange sensation of trying to remember what that strange orange thing is that appears in the sky around February.

So it can never be too hot (in Scotland) and if anyone ever hears me saying “I’m too hot” please remind me of this fact.

BTW I think the good weather is about to break :-/